What are the Drivers of Hearing Aid Non-Use? Hint: It’s More than Cost
by Brian Taylor, AuD, Editor-At-Large That two-thirds of adults do not wear hearing aids, primarily due to high retail costs, is a well-worn industry trope. A recent paper in JAMA Otolaryngology by two Northwestern University researchers, entitled Barriers to Hearing Aid Adoption Run Deeper Than the Price Tag, sheds valuable light on other reasons for…
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Donald Schum Joins Whisper’s Leadership Team as Head of Audiology
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — Whisper announced today that Don Schum, Ph.D., will join Whisper’s leadership team as Head of Audiology after over 30 years in the hearing care industry. In this role, he will play a key role in driving Whisper’s clinical strategy with the Whisper Hearing System, a learning hearing aid that gets better…
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Hearing Aids Disguised as Earbuds: Signia Launches New Active X Instant-Fit Hearing Aids
PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY – Signia today announces the general availability of its latest paradigm-shifting hearing aid, Signia Active X, that “enhances human performance by delivering breakthrough signal processing technology for optimized hearing in noise”. With its convenient earbud form factor allows wearers to pop them in and out as needed for those with normal hearing…
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UnitedHealthcare Hearing Launches Remote Hearing Care and Treatment Option
MINNETONKA, MINNESOTA – UnitedHealthcare Hearing has introduced a new virtual care option for people across the country and individuals enrolled in eligible UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored and Medicare Advantage plans, helping “expand access to custom-programmed hearing aids and potentially reducing the need for in-person appointments for fittings or adjustments”. The capability, known as Right2You, builds on the…
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Phonak Partners With Non-Profits To Change Kids’ Lives Through Better Hearing With New Hearing Aids
Joseph Brisco from Hastings, MI, was recently fitted with premium Phonak Sky Marvel hearing aids at no cost to his family through HearStrong and Lemon(aids) 4 Hearing Aids partnership. In addition to providing hearing aids to the deserving boy, Phonak is also sponsoring the HearStrong Foundation so that children like Joseph can continue to receive…
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OticonNext Virtual Launch Event Company’s Biggest Ever for New Product
SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY – More than 5,000 hearing care professionals registered to join Oticon for the 2021 OticonNext “Discover More” Conference, the company’s biggest ever launch event for a new product. The live virtual knowledge-sharing experience introduced participants to Oticon More™, the world’s first hearing aid with an on-board deep neural network. Oticon President Gary Rosenblum…
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Oticon Inc. Launches More™: First Hearing Aid with an On-Board Deep Neural Network
SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY – Oticon, Inc. today launched Oticon More™, a “revolutionary new hearing aid that builds on the company’s proven BrainHearing™ approach to provide the brain optimum input for better speech understanding with less effort”. Oticon’s newest technology is said to work more like the brain works, because it learned through experience. Oticon More…
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New Research Aims to Address Low Uptake of Hearing Aids Among Adults with Hearing Loss
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM — New research being led by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and University of Manchester, aimed at increasing adult hearing aid use, “could make a dramatic change to people with hearing loss”. The study ‘Follow-up and structured monitoring for adults offered an NHS hearing aid for the first time (FAMOUS):…
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Hearing Aid Ownership Rates Reflect Disparities in American Healthcare
The United States is home to stark and persistent disparities in health coverage, chronic health conditions, mental health, and mortality. Many believe these disparities are the result of decades of systematic inequality in American economic, housing, and health care systems. During the 2020 pandemic, these gaps in health have become even more jarring. It is…
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Researchers Develop Technology Using Brainwaves to Determine Who You’re Listening to Within One Second
In a noisy room with many speakers, hearing aids can suppress background noise, but they have difficulties isolating one voice – that of the person you’re talking to at a party, for instance. KU Leuven researchers have now addressed that issue with a technique that uses brainwaves to determine within one second whom you’re listening…
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